MONTEVIDEO, (Reuters) – Uruguay’s government unveiled a proposal on Wednesday to legalize and monitor the marijuana market, arguing that the drug is less harmful than the black market where it is trafficked.
President Jose Mujica’s leftist government will send a bill to Congress shortly on this as part of a package of measures to fight crime in the South American country.
The government will also urge that marijuana sales be legalized worldwide, Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro said, adding the measure could discourage the use of so-called hard drugs.
Marijuana consumption is already legal in Uruguay.
“We want to fight against two different things: one is drug consumption and the other is drug trafficking. We think the ban on certain drugs is creating more problems in society than the drug itself,” the minister told a news conference.
“Homicides related to settling scores have increased and that’s a clear sign that certain phenomena are appearing in Uruguay that didn’t exist before,” he said.
